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Sustainability Bulletin Winter 2022 Volume 3
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Inside this Issue 3-4 ………….…………………………...…...Curriculum 5 ……………………………………..…..…..…Operations 6 .….…..…………..………………...…….…….Research 7 ..………………………..…………….….….Engagement 8 ..……...…………………….……..Community Events
9 …….……………...…………………..……...Leadership 10 .....…………..…Sustainability Alumni Spotlight Bulletin contributors: Benny Gershweir, Grace Hammond, Aaliyah Johnson, Zoe Mies
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Sustainable Urban Urban Futures Futures Sustainable Dr. Jared Enriquez is an Assistant Professor in the Geography and Planning Department. He is offering a new course during the second 8 week session this spring called Sustainable Urban Futures. 1. What are some of the topics that you cover in your course? The course will examine how emerging technological systems influence the life of future urban places. We will examine previous attempts by designers to construct utopian places as well as artists’ ideas for futurity. Then, we will cover topics such as smart cities, planetary urbanism, decarbonization, green economies, and community relocation. 2. What prompted your interest in teaching a course about Sustainable Urban Futures? My research and personal interests involve sustainability, Professor Jared Enriquez which inherently is a future-oriented field of study because we must be environmentally, socially, and economically resilient for places to sustain and thrive. There were two main reasons I created this course: First, I want students to understand that governments must become more proactive with new technologies to reduce the social inequities they bring. Technology is moving very quickly, and because of people's attraction to money and novelty, we adapt to new technologies before governments understand how to incorporate them well into our democratic processes. Both planners and governments must be proactive with new technologies. Second, students need to learn that solving many issues associated with climate change and societal unrest will need to involve more ambitious experimentation with city design and urbanism. Both governments and markets have been too focused on incrementalist approaches that are not working at the scales we need.
Curriculum
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Sustainable Futures EnvironmentalUrban Justice in the Arts 3. Do you have any specific sustainability learning objectives for this course? Students will: • Understand what factors influence citizens and designers to plan for urban futurity. Examine policy frameworks and initiatives that governments are implementing to facilitate the creation of more adaptive, resilient, and sustainable cities. •
Evaluate how the governance of cities can adapt to better facilitate building intergenerational wealth for all in a future with widening income inequality. •
4. How do you measure if students have increased their knowledge with regards to sustainability literacy? Students will apply course content to produce a final paper (2,500 words for undergrad; 3,000 for graduate students) evaluating the environmental and social impacts of a major urban strategy or intervention that seeks to address future challenges to quality of life. This paper and preceding assignments will require directly engaging core literature, including data sources such as climate and economic projections as well as qualitative measures demonstrating how communities are coping with sustainability policies and projects. 5. Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals do you feel are addressed most in your course? All SDG's are relevant to the course, as they are a comprehensive overview of sustainability, and a truly sustainable place must address all of them. Depending on students' selections for the final paper, some SDG's would be more relevant than others. 6. Is there anything else you want students to know about this course? Whether you are wildly passionate about sustainability or completely new to the topic, I look forward to having you in class!
The course will begin on March 22nd and run until May 3rd, so sign up today!!
Curriculum
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Solar Panel Installation in Yes,There There’s Solar Up UpProgress There! Yes, is Solar Weather Forecasting Tool for New York
The 1.6 megawatt podium solar photovoltaic project is finished and operational! It has been a long process for all those involved, but it is with great pride that our university has an onsite renewable energy system that covers nearly all available podium roofs and is the biggest rooftop array in the SUNY system. The process started in October 2018 when the university began working in conjunction with the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to solicit solar developers for the project. Vendor selection, design, and project approvals took nearly two years. In March of 2021, the construction and installation of the solar panels on the podium began, and on January 13, 2022, the system was placed in service and has been operational since. The university entered into a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with the project developer, Capital Hill Solar LLC, who installed the solar panels. They maintain, operate, and control the system, while the university pays them for the electricity generated. From a financial point of view, the cost for electricity from the onsite solar PV system is about the same as the cost of electricity purchased from the grid. However, in addition to getting electricity from the onsite solar PV system, the university is also retaining the Renewable Energy Credits or RECs from the project. These RECs will be retired on behalf of ETEC providing nearly 60% of the building’s electricity. Overall, these solar panels are greatly beneficial to our campus community and our goal towards carbon neutrality.
Operations
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Meat Eating during Human Evolution Dr. John Rowan, an Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department, recently published on research related to the role of meat eating during human evolution. What are some of the main objectives of your project? Our team assessed the evidence for increased meat-eating during a particular time period in human evolution. The species Homo erectus shows up in the African fossil record around two million years ago, and is characterized by a larger brain and a number of other modern-human like traits. At the same time, we find more cut-marked animal bones in the archaeological record. These two events—the appearance of large-brained Homo erectus alongside Professor John Rowan an increase in zooarchaeological evidence for meat eating—have long been linked together, with many arguing meat-eating was critical for the evolution of traits that are found in all living humans. What made you interested in researching this topic? All fossil records have periods of time that are better represented than others. We suspected that the sudden increase in the number of cut-marked bones around two million years ago might just reflect a better-sampled record, so we set out to test that. What were the main outcomes of the project? Our analyses show that, when we control for the quality of the record (e.g., how many fossil sites we have per time period), there is no sustained increase in cut-marked bones through time, or at least no increase that cannot be explained by a better-sampled record alone. This means the zooarchaeological record, currently, cannot be used to argue for a cause-and-effect link between meat-eating and the evolution of larger brains and other human-like traits in our ancestors. Is there anything else you want students to know about this research? Human evolution spans nearly seven million years of time, and human adaptation can be very fast. For example, within the last 10,000 years (a short span of time in an evolutionary sense) many human populations have evolved to digest lactose into adulthood following the rise of agriculture and livestock. So be skeptical of ‘paleo’ fad diets—what our ancestors were (or were not) eating million years ago should have little bearing on how we construct our diets today.
Research
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Around the Zero Waste Advocacy The zero-waste movement is an essential effort to break the unsustainable production and consumption cycle. In an effort to achieve this goal, UAlbany has become a part of several community zero-waste initiatives. What community groups focus on reducing waste? The Zero Waste Campus Council is made up of students and administrative leaders from colleges across the nation who discuss various topics of zero waste planning such as composting techniques in dorms and apartments on campus. This is a great way to hear how other schools operate and gain knowledge to improve our own community. Attending the Zero Waste Capital District meetings is another great way we are getting involved. This coalition of organizations focuses on the education and outreach of reducing waste. In addition, the City of Albany Sustainability Advisory Committee works to address public concerns towards clean energy and climate smart communities. These groups are open to anyone in the public and are providing solid ideas and feedback for UAlbany to get involved and further our zero waste efforts both individually and as a campus. Besides outreach, is UAlbany actively doing any on-campus initiatives that students can participate in? Yes! The Office of Sustainability has many educational events coming up throughout the semester, as well as activities students can partake in to further educate themselves. We are organizing several supply swaps throughout the semester. This provides an opportunity for campus members to browse through excess office and school supplies, take what they would like, and add any of their own unwanted materials for others to use. The goal is to reuse and repurpose materials that would otherwise be disposed of. Our next distribution will be on Wednesday, March 23 from 11 am to 2 pm in the Lecture Center Concourse. An important step to developing a strong connection between students and their passion for zero waste is keeping everyone involved. If you would like to become a UAlbany Zero Waste Advocate and help with our swaps and/or serve as a liaison to a group mentioned in this article, email us at gogreen@albany.edu
Engagement
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Around the Community The Sierra Club Hudson-Mohawk Group Earth Day 2022 Planning Tuesday, March 22, 5:45 – 7:00pm, via Google Meet Earth Day will be on Friday, April 22. The Sierra Club Hudson-Mohawk group invites you to join a collaborative effort to bring our community together in a natural, organic and fun way. The goal for Capital Region Earth Day is to collect all Earth Day events. Organizations can view participation in this broader Earth Day collaboration as a recruitment opportunity. All meetings will be hosted virtually using Google Meet. Reach out to amy@capitalregionearthday.com for the invitation and with questions.
End of Winter Walk Sunday, March 27, 1:00pm, Albany Pine Bush Discovery Center Even though there may still be a chill in the air, the first day of spring comes on March 20th this year! Welcome the early days of this verdant season with a leisurely, 0.6-mile stroll through Madison Avenue Pinelands. Meet at the wooden and metal kiosk at the Madison Avenue Pinelands Trailhead #7. Reservations required, reserve your spot here.
Capital Roots Organic Gardening 101 Wednesday, March 30, 5:30pm via Zoom Lucy LaFave will cover the history of organic growing methods, what exactly organic means, and the various benefits that organic gardening offers. Attendees will learn some basic soil science and practical ways to assess their soil health. Finally, an overview of core organic practices including composting, crop rotation, and companion planting will be given. To register, email gardens3@capitalroots.org
Vegetable Love Spell with StudioHalibey Honest Weight Food Co-op Thursday, March 31, 7:00pm via Zoom Join Hali and Olga on the last Thursday of each month while they teach you a Vegetable Love Spell. In this Honest Weight sponsored cooking class, you'll learn a new vegetarian or vegan recipe that celebrates flavor, the joy of vegetable-rich home cooking, vibrant seasonal eating, nourishment, and true satisfaction. Register here.
Events
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Leadership Opportunities Sustainability Student Leaders Symposium UMass Lowell is hosting a Sustainability Student Leaders Symposium on March 27 from 11:30 am to 5:30 pm in Coburn Hall Grand Ballroom on their campus with remote options available as well! The theme for the symposium is the importance of partnerships and collaboration in sustainability. The peer-to-peer environment will allow students to explore previous sustainability projects and identify future project implementation that will leave a lasting legacy throughout their own campus communities. More information about the symposium can be found HERE, and the registration can be directly accessed HERE. Registration is free and scholarship money is available for travel expenses. Email UAlbany’s Office of Sustainability about sponsorship at gogreen@albany.edu
Association of Energy Engineers Capital Region Chapter Mixer Want to hear about energy and environmental innovations from professionals and your fellow students? Interested in networking to learn about job and internship opportunities? Then come to the ETEC building on March 31 from 12 to 6 pm for a joint event with the Association of Energy Engineers in the Capital Region. This event has it all: lunch, presentations, ETEC tour, networking mixer and is FREE for UAlbany students! Sign up today for this opportunity using this link and come for all or part of the day!
Leadership
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Sustainability Alumni Spotlight Dylan Card 1. What year did you graduate? BS 2015, MS 2019, PhD 2021 2. What was your major/minor? BS Atmospheric Science, BS Physics, MS Atmospheric Science, PhD Atmospheric Science 3. What was your student organization involvement on campus? I started as a member of the Sustainability Living Learning Community which began my involvement in all of the wonderful sustainability programs that now exist at UAlbany. During my freshman year we got UAS to label locally grown food in all of the dining halls, every year after that seeing those signs and seeing the sustainability movement grow at UAlbany made me very proud of what we as students had accomplished. I was one of the first group members of the UAlbany Students for Sustainability and UAlbany Outdoors, where I served as an Executive Board member of both groups for a few years. I began working in the Sustainability Office in 2013. During my time working there, I oversaw operation of the ink jet and compost collection as well as the UAlbany Bikeshare. I also oversaw the collection of energy, waste and recycling data for UAlbany to assist with the Energy Campaign and Recyclemania. Through the connection I made in the office with other students working there, I became the Vice President of the Graduate Student Association, and eventually President. It was the leadership abilities that I learned being involved with sustainability at UAlbany that made me comfortable enough to take on these institution-wide leadership roles. During my time with the Graduate Student Association, I served on the UAS Board of Directors as well as many other committees where I was able to interact and provide a student voice to university administrators. In these positions and on these committees, I continued to advocate for sustainability at UAlbany including the getting CDTA bikeshare bikes on campus. 4. What are you doing now? Where do you live? Today I am working as a meteorologist for the Department of Defense in Florida.
5. How have you applied your experience with the sustainability movement on campus and involvement with the Office of Sustainability into your post-college life and career? My leadership and office experience has allowed me, in the first few months of my job, to manage government contracts for my lab at the Department of Defense. I would tell everyone to join the sustainability movement on campus for the numerous opportunities to learn about sustainability as well as what we can all do and what we can advocate for in order to save our environment.
The Office of Sustainability is proud of the successes of our alumni! They were essential in the early stages of the sustainability movement at UAlbany and have shaped where it is now. 10
